'Copycatting' is a term used when someone threatens or attempts to do what someone else has already done.
Police said it's been happening nationally since the mass shooting in Connecticut Friday. 26 people, including 20 children, were killed in the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
In Lexington, Fayette County Public Schools reported 850 kids absent at Henry Clay High School.
The absences came amid rumors of violence that began spreading Monday morning. School officials said they beefed up security on the campus, getting help from the Lexington Division of Police.
Nationally, a man in Los Angeles was arrested after police said he posted on Facebook, threatening to shoot up local elementary schools.
In Florida, Lake Mineola High School officials said they increased patrols because of rumors that a shooting will happen Friday.
Prosecutors in Kentucky said those kinds of threats are not taken lightly...
"It's not cool, it's not funny. It's a good way to get yourself in serious trouble. And I know most of the county attorneys in central Kentucky, a lot of the judges...I'm sure that every single one of them would take this very seriously," said Jessamine County Attorney Brian Goettl.
In fact, one count of terroristic threatening--which includes shooting and bomb threats to schools and school-related areas--can land a person in jail up to 10 years.
